ELECTRO FUNK - GREG WILSON ARTICLE

[Giovanni]

Originally Posted by Greg Wilson

I'd be interested to hear from you how Electro was received in Italy (presuming you were there at the time, of course). I can't imagine the same type of politics came into play as here in the UK, where there was an almost puritanical attitude to black music at the time Electro arrived. As I said, not everyone here played Electro (although I accept this may have been different elsewhere).

OK Greg, let's debate seriously!
When disco began to fold, around spring-summer of 1980, many records came out announcing a different wave in dance music. Most of these records were not from the US (Over and Over by Disco Circus, Disco's dead by The Critics, Heartbreaker & I wanna take you there by Gino Soccio, I'm ready by Kano to name just a few). Many discotized pop rock bands began releasing extended dance version of their tracks (Human League etc) and many black funk bands began contaminate their sounds with rock guitars and electronic drum machines (Prince and the Minneapolis movement, GrandMaster Flash's "The message", Bambaataa and all the New York hip hop school, The black No Wave movement).
In Southern Europe and in Italy, black music was no so highly revered and these contamination found a fertile ground in the djs, the people and producers too. The djs split in two categories: who kept playing black music (hip hop, scratch, and then electro), and who went on the new wave of italo disco. This happened around 1981 to 1982 and lasted for no more than 2-3 years. By 1986 everybody was playing house.

Originally Posted by Greg Wilson

One of the biggest tracks in the early days of the Electro-Funk scene was an Italian release, 'Dirty Talk' by Klien & MBO (the instrumental version). It would be revived some years later and also receive classic status at the Hacienda during the House explosion. How popular was this track for you?

Dirty talk was a monster hit all around here, since we had it first on the small italian indie Phoenix. The entire album received lot of disco play (Wonderful, MBO theme, Big Apple theme, Deja vu). Its sounds were so different from what we have heard before that you had to decide, love it or hate it. I liked very much, even if I am a funky disco lover

[Greg Wilson]

Giovanni: Thanks for the info about the Italian scene.

Quinny: Looking around the various forums on this site I've come to the conclusion that wind-up must be your middle name. You seem to get into mischief all over the place!

Now I'm fully aware of this I can see that it was pointless for me to get into this with you in the first place. No matter what I say you're going to look for a way to further confuse the issue.

This thread began with you questioning the validity of what I'd written, and I naturally felt a need to respond, which on reflection was probably a mistake.

You're obviously entitled to your own views and opinions, regardless of whether they're right or wrong, but I foolishly thought I might be able to help clarify a few things for you by addressing your reservations. Little did I know that I was on a hiding to nothing!

I take my hat off to you Quinny, you're a master of the back-handed compliment! Some of your comments have really brought a smile to my face, but when Giovanni added his post, asking us to stop quarrelling, I thought this must be coming across in a negative way. I'd rather my article had not been included on here in the first place if I thought it would result in bad vibes of any kind.

So, with this in mind, I think it's best that I leave it there. This is the first time I've participated in a forum and it's been a learning curve for me. Thanks for the education!

Before I go, one thing you mentioned that deserves comment is the New Wave / Futurist movement in the UK, which was far more receptive to the emergence of NY Electro than the Jazz-Funk scene, and undoubtedly helped to bring certain records to mainstream attention.

Anyway, that's it from me as far as this subject is concerned. Take care Quinny, I'll leave it for you to have the final word on this particular thread.

[QUINNY]

Greg: I'll tell you something. I don't know how I wind people up. Seriously, if I knew the answer to that I'd be more than willing not to do it.
I wasn't questioning the validity of your article, just one or two minor points, which I think we cleared up? It's a shame we can't take this debate any further, I was hoping to learn something more, as the early '80s were an exciting time in Disco music so far as I was concerned.

[DISCODISK]

firstly welcome GREG WILSON welcome to discomusic,i was really pleased to see your name here and really enjoyed your article i did want to say that before but seeing quinnys comments about one upmanship sort of steered me away [in disqust] i dont know you personally but we have sort of crossed in the past i used to buy records from you and have even had you wading through tapes in the past to identify records and you have written to me telling me youve found them for me,i know theres no one upmanship with you or indeed any of the other d.js you used to work with i.e richard searling ,colin curtis etc whom i do know just fantastic d.js who have only done all the things they have done for a pure love of music thats why all you guys are so respected by so many.quinny could NEVER undertsand what we had in the northwest going right back to the 60s,he coul NEVER understand just what the northern soul scene was like [he seems to have a lot to say about it but hes never been to an event in his life] so dont expect him to understand what the northwest electro scene was like and dont even mention the hacienda!its a shame new members have to meet quinny when they open the door it happens all the time, i sit here and cringe the best way is just to step over him.look foreward to more discussions greg i would like to say more but im SERIOUSLY
late for work :lol:

[QUINNY]

DISCODISK: Oh dear!!!!

[jazz_pilgrim]

Greg,

I have finally gotten around to reading your article - I enjoyed it very much.

I was indeed one of those SOUL MAFIA purists who used to hate *L*CTR* (Electro) at the time. I remember the shock and horror the Jazz Pilgrims felt when Herbie Hancock released Rockit. But soon after that, I moved up into London town, and I got into a more electro sound ... A lot of the friends I made in London were from Manchester and they used to say that the music scene up there was absoutely buzzin'.. I know they used to go to all the clubs in Manchester for instance.... When I meet up next time with them, I will ask them about their memories from that scene ....

it is interesting to note that when I look back at some of the tracks you listed, how I have gotten to like them over the years.

Herbie Hancock has always shocked people, hasn't he? And weren't a lot of jazz fans shocked by Chameleon, a track that the Jazz Pilgrims used to like so much? So, with the advantage of maturity, I can now see that the same applies to Rockit ...

You have some seriously good gems in your playlists that DID become popular in the South. I consider the remix of Beat The Street by Sharon Redd to be one of the best remixes ever. Al McCall's wonderful Hard Times was a tune that I have only really loved over the past few years - now I can't get enough of it! I could spent hours extolling the virtues of many of the records in your list, but I will finish by saying that my favourite ELECTRO tune from that lot was Q and the Voice Of Q. Brilliant!


BTW And PLEASE DO keep on posting - as I am sure you have a lot to ADD to this Board!! :)

[QUINNY]

Jazz: You hated Rockit!!!??? Oh well, I obviously never knew such feelings existed at the time. I would put that in my all time top 5 records. I just thought it was brilliantly funky and danceable and the video was the biz (all those robots). Perhaps I should have been DJing in Manchester. :lol:
The Voice Of Q - Q: Now there's a track and a half. I even named one of my DMC megamixes after it (The Mix Of Q {after Quinny - get it?} later changed to 'Q To The Break' by Tony Prince or Alan Coulthard. Yep, it would be one of my absolute top electro sounds too.

[jazz_pilgrim]

Yes, as I said, I really hated it - AT THE TIME! I simply wouldn't dance to it - I would just stand there - folding my arms ... We were all very traditional in our music tastes at the time. I mean, TUNBRIDGE WELLS was just about as CONSERVATIVE as you could get!! :lol:

Definitely agree with your comments on Q.

Another real gem in there was Tony Lee and Reach Up. I love the way the record used the percussion/dub breaks in it. At the time it was one of the best of its type. I still hear people on Greg Edward's show or whatever asking for that record .....

[Bernie]

Originally Posted by jazz_pilgrim

Another real gem in there was Tony Lee and Reach Up. I love the way the record used the percussion/dub breaks in it. At the time it was one of the best of its type. I still hear people on Greg Edward's show or whatever asking for that record .....

Jazz,

Agree wholeheartedly on Tony Lee's "Reach Up." A killer song indeed. Check out Status IV's "You Ain't Really Down" also on Radar. Eric Mathews producing and Tony Lee on vocals once again. Very soulful harmonies... and still funky.

[Greg Wilson]

Jazz_Pilgrim: I probably shouldn't, but ok, I'll give it another shot. Here goes:

'Rockit' represented a watershed in the evolution of the UK Electro-Funk scene. As you touched on, it split the London Jazz-Funk community (and the Northern anti-Electro diehards) in two, stoking up the existing controversy when it arrived on import in July 83. Herbie Hancock was a Jazz icon, so when 'Rockit' was unleashed many people who'd been previously dismissive of Electro-Funk were forced to think again. When he was questioned about the validity of electronic music he pointed out that the technology didn't plug itself in, and, all of a sudden, the arguement that this somehow wasn't 'real music' was totally discredited, especially when 'Rockit' went on to pick up a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental.

'Rockit' was a hugely influential track, and it's difficult for people nowadays to understand just how radical this record was when we first heard it. A state-of-the-art release if ever there was one.

Bernie: It was only after the event that I realised just how much of an innovator Eric Matthew was. Electrik Funk's 'On A Journey', Sinnamon's 'Thanks To You' and Sharon Redd's 'Beat The Street', were all major landmarks before Radar was launched. Apart from 'Reach Up' and Status IV's 'You Ain't Really Down' (which was a big track that didn't quite make it onto my 'Essential Beats' list), the other huge Radar releases during 83 were Toney Lee's follow-up, 'Love So Deep', and Gary's Gang's 'Makin' Music'.

Quinny: You must have thought 'The Voice Of Q' had been made just for you! I'll never hear that record in quite the same way again!

Discodisk: Big thanks for the welcome. Also thanks to those who've e-mailed or left messages for me.